The benefits outweigh the risks: With this justification, the US FDA approved the booster for adolescents aged 12 and over. And younger people can also be boosted under certain circumstances.
There is great fear of the social and economic consequences of the new Omikron variant in the United States. Most recently, the CDC health authority reduced the quarantine period for infected vaccinated people from ten to five days. The reason: This is how the critical infrastructure should continue to be maintained. Now the authorities are taking a further step: The US FDA approved booster vaccinations against the coronavirus for 12 to 15-year-olds on Monday.
After evaluating data on 6,300 young people in Israel, the authority came to the conclusion that the additional protection against the virus, against hospital treatment and against deaths clearly outweighed the low risks. In the United States, only the Biontech and Pfizer vaccine is approved for children and adolescents between the ages of 5 and 17.
The FDA also announced that a third dose of vaccine could be given to some at-risk children between the ages of five and eleven with a particularly weakened immune system – for example after an organ donation.
Booster against omicron spread
The agency has also cut the time it takes to get booster vaccinations for all ages with the Biontech and Pfizer vaccine from six to five months. For Moderna vaccinated people in the USA, there is initially a six-month interval between the second vaccination and the booster.
Like them, the FDA opted for the booster for 12- to 15-year-olds because the virus could spread widely by returning to schools after the Christmas holidays. It is to be feared that the health system will continue to be burdened. The first schools had to close on Monday because the staff was sick.
Corona cases in the US have doubled to 418,000 new infections in the past week. 62 percent of the US population is double-vaccinated. A third of this is considered boosted. The FDA will decide whether five to eleven year olds should also be given a third dose if more children in this age group are double vaccinated. “Most recently, about 25 percent of 5 to 11-year-olds were vaccinated. It would be good to get a higher rate and then see how many months later they need to be boosted,” said an FDA spokesman.
Lauterbach allows booster vaccinations for teenagers in Germany
In Germany, children and adolescents aged 12 and over can receive a booster vaccination. According to Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, Stiko approval, which is currently still missing, and a vaccine approved for minors are not required. In addition, that there is a claim to care in the event of a vaccine damage. The children and adolescents must, however, be vaccinated with an “approved MRNA vaccine”.
Source From: Stern
